While some rules must be put in place for children at an early age, once the lessons of cheating, distraction, and responsibility have been drilled into their minds time and time again, the authorities MUST loosen the leash of restrictions simply for the sake of preserving their own credibility.
An article on theglobeandmail.com by Rebecca Boone discusses how schools, both on the high school and college level are deciding to ban the use of iPods and MP3 players in the classroom because of their students undying efforts to cheat.
In the article, she goes on to give examples of how baseball caps were used for answers and then banned. Cell phones and text-messaging were a beautifully efficent tool for quick sharing of answers on tests. Now, ingenious students are using recorded answers on iPod tracks and notes in the lyrics option and many schools are potentially banning these delightful devices.
What our condesending society of educators fails to realize is that but removing these cheating devices, they are stimulating learning in their students, but it is not over the subject material. Each time a cheating tool is removed, the dogmatic students adapt and produce a new idea.
To remove the cheating aspect, teachers should be more vigilant in the observation of their tests and remove the “bad apples” from the bunch. Most colleges have an expulsion policy for cheating and perhaps high schools should adapt harsher punishments for dishonesty on tests to combat these apathetic students.
Meanwhile, music is often benificial to learning. In controlled, scientific studies, it has been proven that music helps students by focusing concentration, improving attention, increasing memory, facilitating a multisensory learning enviornment, and release tension. I personally find my iPod a most valuable study tool and employ its use as often as I can during the day. I have a 3.8 GPA. Music helps. I promise.
http://www.newhorizons.org/strategies/arts/brewer.htm
I agree with the point that the tool should not be banned, but rather a harsher punishment may be necessary for those who cheat.
I concur. And I would even take your reasoning one step further and say that if a test is so simple as to be able to be fully answered by a basic ipod note then perhaps the tests are not hard enough. My personal opinion is that a test should make you work at a higher level of bloom’s taxonomy than basic recall. I think ipods should be allowed and encouraged and the tests should move past those things that can be placed on an ipod, perhaps using that information as a base, and ask students to really think and work on much harder problems. Perhaps instead of blaming students for accessing knowledge we as educators should raise the bar for examinations. The instructional and testing methods must develop in stride with the technology!
That’s a very invigorating statement. Many tests today are reguritation of information rather than the application of that knowledge. Mr. Sparks, bless his heart, had the most difficult tests I have ever experienced, because I was adaquet at applying the skills I had learned, but his tests included the problem solving skills I had not of figuring out WHICH skills to apply to each situation.